Last Kiss
by PrincessJaded
Summary: Oh where, oh where can my baby be? The Lord took her away from me. She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good. So I can see my baby when I leave this world. AU. One-shot.


_This would be my second(?) one-shot based on a song. __I know this fic has been done before... but never with this couple or with by me. I hope you all enjoy it. Strange things are going on with FF(dot)net and it wouldn't let me divide things accurately!_

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_**Last Kiss  
**__by  
PrincessJaded_

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_Oh, where oh where can my baby be?  
The Lord took her away from me  
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good  
So I can see my baby when I leave this world_

They carried her. The five boys, now men, whom she had the pleasure of meeting early in life. Her parents and her best friends walked behind them. They placed her gently over the pit and released the silver handles. Each placed a kiss on the cold painted wood. They had a hard time walking away from her; to walk away now would mean to leave her alone... forever.

He stood at the very back when they raised the lid.

His hair was combed neatly. He'd even worn a suit. His sunglasses remained, even after having been asked to take them off. She had always told him that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and he didn't want anyone peering into his right now. If they did, they would truly see how horrible he felt.

She would laugh. She would tell him his eyes made her feel warm and safe.

He would tell her she that was too cliché.

He failed her.

It was a nice area. It was a place she would have loved. There were rolling fields of green, sprinkled with cherry blossom trees and white rose bushes. The scent that hung in the air was something she would have adored. It was a good place for her... to rest.

He bit back the pang of sadness. He couldn't do this.

Flowers surrounded her pale green casket. The white satin she now lay in reflected the content smile on her lips. Her lips and her face were caked with makeup. It was meant to make her look natural. It was meant to make her look alive.

She was dressed in a simple pink chiffon gown. Her tresses lay against her shoulders and arms. Her eyes were closed. They had been that way for days.

He'd never see her soul again.

A silver cross hung from her neck and settled against her collar bone. Her thin hands were laced together and rested against on her stomach, cradling it.

Her mother sat in the front row crying with her daughter's best friend. The two women consoled each other the best they could. Her father stood beside the coffin, looming over her motionless figure.

He was beckoned forward by his friends, to where her father had been. But his feet stood rooted to the spot.

This was his fault.

**~m~**

She smiled at him as they sang their favorite song. He couldn't sing if his life depended on it. Why she'd ever asked him to go to a karaoke bar was beyond him. But so what if his friends never let him live it down. He'd do anything to see that smile, even it meant embarrassing himself.

"So did you have a good time?" She asked him for the third time that night.

He nodded, "I was with you."

She blushed and hid her eyes behind her bangs. He reached out and lifted her chin. "Stop!" She playfully swatted his hand away.

Her small hand curled in his and he squeezed it tightly. He offered her his lopsided grin and she unbuckled her seat beat. She leaned over the middle of the seat to kiss his lips tenderly.

He lost himself in the softness of her lips. And when she pulled away, he was slightly disappointed.

His eyes remained on her as she settled back in her seat and she pulled the strap over her shoulder to secure herself back to the seat. He watched her delicate brown eyes grow wide with horror. He barely registered the sound of a horn honking. All he heard was her.

"TAICHI, LOOK OUT!"

It happened before he even had time to blink. The car was in the middle of the road, turned sideways, like it had spun out of control. He had no choice but to turn the wheel or risk hitting the vehicle.

The tires of his father's car locked, skidding mercilessly against the dampened pavement. The car hit the side of the road and slipped over a trench. But that's when it turned for the worst.

The car nosedived into the dip and flipped.

His head snapped forward and hit the steering wheel before whipping back against the headrest. His arm slammed harshly into the door. A searing pain ripped though his chest as the belt restricted him.

Through blurry eyes, he saw it happen as if in slow motion.

Her body was jolted back and then forward, her shoulder careening with the windshield. The glass crunched under the impact. The crack in the glass spread like tiny fissures until it burst completely. And she was no longer in the car with him.

He reached out for her but his seatbelt had locked him in place.

There was only one sound that registered before he blacked out… her scream.

**~m~**

The priest began his sermon and the guests took their seats.

"Today, we put to rest a child before her time, but it is with the angels that she sings and flies."

The first tear rolled down his cheek, and then another and another. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he should even be here. He was unworthy of her presence; he cursed inwardly, reminding himself that she wasn't really here. It was just the lifeless shell she'd left behind. Her presence, her soul… she was gone.

"A child of grace and beauty, we send with the warmest of wishes to be with her God. Where she may look down upon us and care for our day to day trials."

That wasn't the case. He wasn't sending her away. She'd been ripped away from his grasp. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. She shouldn't be lying there.

"She was loved by so many and was ever the sincere one. She leaves behind many things, but do not fret my friends, for she is gaining so much more… she is gaining her wings."

He didn't see it that way. He heard the pain in her father's voice, seen the tears in her mother's eyes, witnessed the agony in the faces her friends carried. And through them all, he saw his own suffering. It was his guilty conscious gnawing away at him.

He was the one driving. He was the one that was careless. He was the one going too fast.

He was the one that killed her.

**~m~**

He slowly came to and found himself still in his seat. There was blood rolling down his temple onto his cheek. And the ache in his head was unreal. The world seemed fuzzy and it was hard to breath. He fought with the nylon fibers that had been ripped on impact.

Freeing himself from the confines, he pushed the door open, using most of his strength to slither out of the twisted metal cage. He rested his aching body against what was the hood of the car.

She wasn't there. He had to find her.

There was a small inferno blazing nearby. A tree was on fire, as was the back end of the car. The people who had been in the other car were standing at the shoulder of the road, looking down at the carnage. Families, disrupted by the screams and the torturous sounds of the crash, stumbled out of their homes, some even running to give aid.

There was a cry of pain some ten feet away and he made a break for her.

He reached her, just as the ambulance wailed away in the distance. He threw himself on the road beside her and held her. She didn't move, she didn't speak, he wasn't even sure she was breathing.

"No, no, no. Baby! Baby, talk to me!" His heart wretched and he hiccupped to stifle his pain.

"I can't feel…" She moaned in pain as he pulled away to make sure she was truly speaking.

Her hand, wet from the drops pounding down on them, reached for his cheek. She stroked it lovingly and smiled. She struggled to lift her head and bring his down to her. Determination flashed in her eyes and she sighed when she succeeded.

"I love you." She spoke softly, her tone trying to console him.

He fought to keep his own voice steady to reciprocate the declaration, "I love you too. You're gonna be fine, baby. I promise."

"Taichi, just hold me."

He did as she requested and she nestled her head against his chest. He dipped his head low and took her lips. She pushed herself closer and exchanged the moment of passion. It was sweet and gentle. It was the perfect kiss. One that she'd waited for years to receive. She smiled against his lips and sighed.

He was still kissing her when he realized she was no longer kissing back.

He pulled back suddenly and stared down at her. Her eyes were closed and the rise and fall of her chest had ceased.

"MIMI!" He shook her firmly. "No, Mimi!"

**~m~**

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Taichi cried as he threw himself over her coffin. "Love, I'm sorry. Look at me. Baby, open your eyes. It's not over yet. Look at me, Mimi!"

He ran his fingers through her hair and cupped her cold cheek. No blush flooded the pale skin, no warmth met his hand. He ran his hands over her shoulders and arms, but trying to warm her chilly flesh was futile. He laid his head on her chest, begging the heart beneath the soft material and frigid skin to beat for him. He held her hands and sobbed.

"Mimi! Mimi! Don't leave me!"

Yamato and Koushiro were at his sides, pulling with all their strength. But he held firm.

"Taichi," Hikari's voice begged from somewhere behind him, "Please… let her rest."

"No," he sobbed. "Mimi, I love you. I need you, baby. This can't be it. That can't have been our last kiss. Baby, open your eyes."

He kissed her pale lips, devoid of her favorite pink gloss, gone was her taste of cherry and vanilla. She was gone and it was killing him.

Jyou and Takeru tried when Koushiro and Yamato broke down. They didn't prove to have any more success, and Taichi still refused to let her go. He fumbled with his pocket and then returned to her fragile hands.

Sora hugged him from behind, resting her head on his back and cried. Her body shook as much as his. "Taichi, please! You… you can't do this. I don't want it to be true, but it is. Stop it, Taichi! We still need you too!"

"NO!" He pushed her off and shook out of the grips of both men holding him. "I can't."

But it was her father who pried him away from her. It was her father that hugged him tightly. It was Tachikawa Keisuke that cried with him.

"It's not your fault, Taichi. It's not your fault!" Keisuke sunk to the ground with his daughter's boyfriend. He cradled him in his arms, as if the young man were his own son.

They sat there for hours, neither saying a word. They had both realized she was gone.

A part of their lives was gone.

All that remained was the beautiful face, the frail body, and the thin fingers with the diamond ring sparkling in the sunlight.

**~m~**

**One Year Later**

The cherry blossom petals flew through the air. The roses were in full bloom. And she still remained beneath the green grass. He placed the pale roses over her grave and ran his fingers over her head stone.

_An Angel of Purity Rests Here  
A Child of Chosen Destiny Resides  
For Every Lonely Tear Drop Remember  
I've Never Left the World_

_Tachikawa Mimi  
1989 – 2007_

He sat next to the stone, twirling his fingers in the grass, and imagining her.

"Good afternoon, love. I trust you're doing well. Everyone misses you, baby. I miss you, every day. There isn't an hour that goes by that I don't think about you. You, my Princess, never got your fairytale ending. I'm sorry, Mimi."

The wind blew through his hair and caressed his face, slowly drying his tears. He let out a laugh. It felt odd. He hadn't done that in over a year. It was the simple act of the wind blowing that gave him the closure he so desperately needed. It gave him the chance to understand.

For months, he didn't eat or sleep. He blamed himself. He still did. He wanted her here with him. He wanted to hold her in his arms. It was only now that he realized he couldn't; at least not today… but someday.

"You'll be happy to hear this… I've been on my best behavior. Best, by your standards too. There's not a day that goes by that I don't remember that you're the one I love. And no one will ever take your place love, I swear that to you. So when my time comes… wait for me, my angel. Meet me at the gates so I can take your hand in mine and we can walk together for eternity. So we can have our last kiss forever..."

_Oh, where oh where can my baby be?  
The Lord took her away from me  
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good  
So I can see my baby when I leave this world_

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_DISCLAIMER: PrincessJaded does not own Digimon. Nor does she claim to own Last Kiss by Pearl Jam._

_Beta'd by BenignUser. (Thanks oniichan.)_

_Please Review,  
Diane_


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